A Decade of CO2 Progress

It's worth remembering amid all the hype about electric vehicles, like Nissan's Leaf, and hybrids such as the Prius or range extenders in the Volt mode, that the internal combustion engine is the staple propulsion system for most car buyers and will remain so for a good number of decades to come.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) which represents the UK's motor industry has issued its 10th Annual New Car CO2 Report that shows ongoing reductions in average emissions of new cars. 2010 figures drop by 3.5% on the previous year to 144.2g/km CO2 (equivalent to about 50 imperial mpg), down by over 20% since 2000.

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The Report shows that in 2010, almost 40% of cars had emissions below 130g/km CO2 – the European fleet emissions target for 2015. Additionally, nearly 40,000 vehicles were exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) with emissions under 100g/km (equivalent to about 70 imperial mpg). Reductions in average emissions were made across all model segments vs. 2009 levels, contributing to the significant drop over the past decade. Luxury wagons and MPVs made the biggest reduction over the past year, falling 6.4% and 6.0% respectively on 2009 figures and Executive (-28.1%) and Mini (-25.8%) segments recorded the biggest improvements against the levels of 2000.

"New technology has delivered impressive reductions in CO2 emissions but coordinated action, to support research and development, new infrastructure and consumer incentives, is critical to securing significant future advances," said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. "The economic and political challenges of high fuel prices, energy security and climate change are shared issues that must be addressed at an international level."

Each of the four lowest emitting VED bands (ranging from 0 to 130g/km CO2) increased in popularity representing almost 38.2% of the new car market, compared to less than 0.9% in 2000. This marks a positive move for industry as all manufacturers must reach a Europe-wide average for their vehicle fleets of 130g/km CO2 by 2015.

Auto shows like Geneva and, no doubt the forthcoming New York Auto Show, have an increasing number of EVs and the like. And while some of these technologies provide regional solutions for reducing emissions, none are global solutions or silver bullets. Each needs to be taken on their individual merits and that's a difficult message to get across to politicians, lobbyists and independent do gooders, even more so at these turbulent times.

But it's the motor industry communicators and magazines like Road & Track that must convey the message. Sure the motor industry needs to change and it is doing so, but it is naive to think that it can, for example, be electrified overnight. Collectively the motor industry employs vast swathes of people from the gas attendant to the CEO and those jobs can't simply be scrapped and manufacturing engines, for example, replaced with batteries.

No, as the SMM&T report shows emissions are reducing and in the next decades the advances the internal combustion engine will undergo will be as far reaching as they ever have been.

Karl Benz would be incredulous at how his engine has developed in the past 125 years and we will be amazed at how much cleaner and efficient it will be in 2020, never mind beyond that.